Written By: - Date published: 3:56 pm, December 2nd, 2008 - 66 comments
Categories: john key -
Tags: phil goff, thailand
John Key’s first test as Prime Minister in a crisis is turning into a bloody fiasco, with the leader of the opposition having to tell him how to do his job through the media. Read the linked article, it’s extraordinary.
For the sake of the hundreds of Kiwis stranded in Thailand, can’t John just spare us the dithering and let Phil Goff handle the crisis?
UPDATE: Hilarious parody over at the Dim Post: ‘Key slams government response to Bangkok crisis‘
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Brilliant – Key has a major problem on his hands and he’s running around whining about there being no easy solution. Unfortunately Mr Key is going to have to learn that there are some problems that can’t be solved by laying down your Amex Gold?
Well the Brits haven’t done any better with all Gordon’s “experience” and the Australians haven’t got much further than trying to twist Qantas’ arm…
When I read it, I see blame being laid on
– The Airforce
– The ‘old and slow’ Hercules
– The Australians for not lending a helping hand without having to be asked
– McCully wants other people to come in… only while “some” progress is being made.
However,
– Thanks go to the protestors for letting local flights out – NB: Local flights aren’t being used for foreign nationals. Foreigners have to make their own way to U-Tapao … My sister is currently still waiting for a bus/rickshaw to take her some 170 km away.
Bah. This is an epic fail for Key’s Government.
What I find amazing is he hasn’t got past the oppositional whining and realised he’s the Prime Minister yet.
The buck stops with you, John. Don’t sit there whining about the Defence Force, find a bloody solution.
Dont worry the hercules is going
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10546172
maybe Key could charter that fancy jet he used to fly around NZ during the election campaign?
Would the response from our Govt be any different if our countrymen and women were in a life threatening situation worse than they are now? Be decisive John! Imagine what will happen if something fatal happens to our people while you play Milly Molly Mandy!
Well, the blame for having both our new 757s out of action ultimately lies with the last government.
As for Goff’s brilliant advice to sponge of the Aussies; we wouldn’t have to if Labour left our defense force in better order.
Thanks to Labour, NZ has to rely on K Rudd. No wonder John Key is frustrated.
Well the air force could have sent one of it’s 757 widebody jets which could have picked up all 300 kiwi’s at one stroke, but neither are operational at the moment. As I understand it one is being refitted, and is due back into service early next year while the other is in the US about to be re-fitted.
So the question that should be put is how did the situation arise where both planes are out of service at the same time? This is complete incompetence that should be laid not at the feet of the National Party, but at the previous labour defence minister UNDER WHOSE WATCH THIS OCCURRED!!
Now who is that again? Are you there Phil Goff?
Numties.
Let me think. If my car broke down I could sit on the side of the road and blame the weather, or the previous owner, or the garage, or my wife
OR I could think of an alternative to get me over the immediate problem. Phone my neighbour, wife, Brother, the AA. Then later figure out what went wrong. But do something with what I have got. Initiative. Decisiveness. Optimist!
Phone my neighbour, wife, Brother, the AA. Then later figure out what went wrong.
And who is the equivalent agency to the AA in this case?
What do those of you criticising Key suggest he do? Invade Thailand?
Ianmac, HELLOOO.. did you read the article:
“and his Government is this afternoon considering commercial charter flights or even military aircraft to get stranded New Zealanders out of Thailand……”
And breaking news:
“An Air Force Hercules will leave tonight for Singapore or Malaysia so it can be used at short notice to get New Zealanders out of Thailand, Prime Minister John Key said today………”
… but hey, if you want to rely on the Aussies – well I’m just pleased your not the PM.
The last thing we want is Labour to handle this crisis.
I remember being in Fiji in 2006, when there was a talk of coupe.
The Australians we were with were told, if things really got out of hand their navy would be sent in to rescue them.
Aunty Helen wanted to have talks with everybody, not the Fijians, but her support base, cant offend her fans in south Auckland, I guess?
Australians are starting to leave – 289 today – but only because Qantas has stepped in. And that took days of negotiating by the Australian government.
Possibly that’s why they’ve been so recalcitrant in offering to help stranded NZers – simply because they don’t have the capacity to do so. I’m trying to find something that tells me why Australian Air Force planes weren’t able to do the job days ago…
I must say this is a somewhat, errr, robust approach from The Standard, Tane. I can’t help wondering whether, had Key had the option of sending in 757s in RNZAF livery days ago, there wouldn’t have been criticism here of his being provocative and militaristic?
Meanwhile, what’s Air New Zealand doing….?
[Tane: Na, I was just astounded by Key's dithering in that article, following his reservations about cost just a day ago. I'm glad to see the Hercules is finally on its way.]
Oh, and when I saw the headline to this thread, I thought we were discussing the big whole in the govt ACC accounts and the fact that Cullen knew about it before the election. But, this isn’t what the thread is about of course, my bad.
I only joined this site recently because it seemed interesting and fairly informative. But it’s just an endless bagging of every single bloody thing John Key says and does, without acknolwedging the circumstances or accounting for the wider perspective.
So yeah, four or five posts and I’m tired with this site. A shame, blogs are so much more enriching if you concede some points, but I guess this blog is an ideological rant fest from those still unable to accept that maybe, just maybe, New Zealand was tired of Clark and Co., so there is little hope for reasoned debate.
Adios Standard (oh and abuse this post all you like, I’m a goneburger.).
[Tane: Chris, I'm hardly going to abuse you. You won't be the first, or the last, rightie to leave this place in a huff because you don't agree with the views of the posters. Seeya.]
Why is the govt even trying to ‘rescue’ people on an extended holiday? That is what travel insurance is for. These people are in no danger and should be told they went into a volatile situation and it is up to them to get out. Did we send a plane to Mumbai or the US after 9/11?
And it seems like Goff’s advice to Key is to do errrr exactly what is being done
1 talk to Aus – yep doing that
2 contingency plan – yep we’ve checked on plane availability. Unfortunately Labour hasn’t left many in service so we are monitoring other flight options like charters and sending a herc.
And even Goff says it is not a danger spot. So why the worry?
A shame, blogs are so much more enriching if you concede some points,
Well you’re not the first or the last person to say this.
To these types of quarries The Standards ‘standard’ response is to direct the commentor to the ‘about’.
So to save them the trouble: http://www.thestandard.org.nz/about/
Insider
I think Goff is a wee bit pissed off that nobody is asking him what he would do, so he has to tell everyone. He is still in the adjustment phase between government and opposition.
Any of Key’s alledged failings pale into insignificance compared to the deceitful arrogance demonstrated by Labour in the latest ACC fiasco. They showed quite clearly that they have no concern whatsoever for New Zealanders. Their only concern was clinging onto power at any cost. Honestly, someone in Labour should be arrested for this.
tsmithfield: It is not a fiasco, not yet anyway. There are guidelines for including items in the update. The down for ACC was identified as probable from about April 2008. Treasury prepares the update, not the Labour Party or Govt. Treasury followed the guidelines set out by National when in Govt about 1993. So not a blame for the outgoing Government at all.
A chance for Key to make excuses for his not being able to live up to his promises. Yes?
Call these protests? In my day, they’d have stormed the embassy by now. Pah.
Still, gotta love the “Key sends in Hercules” headlines. Stand by for TV pictures of the PM greeting the returning tourists at the airport, and a macho soundbite or two from his speechwriters (“This sit-in will not stand! On the beaches of Thailand, we have drawn a line in the sand”). Maybe they could rustle up a VC for the backpacker who made the ultimate sacrifice, sharing his duty free with the other passengers.
You call this a fiasco? why is the governments fault that these people are still stuck there? why don’t the people stuck make some efforts to get themselves out? OH NO, nine years of a labour government have created a government dependent sector of society. Idiots.
where is the wailing over the Billion dollars missing from the ACC acounts? thats the real crime today.
perhaps us decent kiwis need to take a leaf out of the Thais book and take over the airports til we get rid of this useless government!!!!
As for ACC? cant you right wingers read??? I’d say Johns realised his promises before the election are gonna cost big time and how hes scratching around for more money…what to do…thats right blame Labour….the only decent government we have seen in 30 years.
Kerry, no, Labour hid this fact from Nats, Treasury did not report it in any detail. Once again (twice in a row now) Labour has left a hole in the government accounts only to be discovered after they were removed from office.
Yes it’s a fiasco the hundreds of people are ‘stranded’ in close proximity to tropical beaches, cheap beer and perfect weather. Lets airlift them out of there right this instant. If they had any inclination to really get out they’d have caught a bus on train to KL.
Are any of the standard’s writers going to post on the ACC issue or are you just going to sweap it under the carpet?
It will probably turn out that officials have exactly followed the PREFU update rules as to what they could and could not include. The hole in the budget was probably there all along to be seen, if only they had looked in the right place. In that case Key and English will look amateurish idiots for not understanding what was happening.
If then they try to cover this up and blame Treasury officials, the consequence will be one very betrayed and pissed off department that will owe them no favours.
If they go negative and blame Labour, this will pretty much terminate the ‘honeymoon’ with extreme prejudice.
Redlogix, you’re so naive. Labour have been so stupid as to allow National carte blanche to privatise ACC. What a bunch of muppets – but thank fuck they won’t be allowed near the chequebooks again for a very long time.
Under labours watch we get both the NZRAF’s large aircraft out of action at the same time – nice one Phil Goff!
And I see the dead bodies are starting to be discovered by the Nats.
1 billion shortfall in ACC, but there will be plenty more smelly corpses to uncover left by the sinking ship that was Labours last term
NeillR,
Labour have been so stupid as to allow National carte blanche to privatise ACC.
Yes that occured to me too, but it would be equally naive to think that the Nats haven’t just cooked up an excuse to justify a privatisation they know would be unpopular. Frankly that strikes me as equally, if not more, plausible than any attribution to Labour’s stupidity.
It’s an argument that can be made to cut both ways at this point in time.
Remind me why New Zealand voted in these halfwits?
Let’s leave the ACC issue for another thread, when we’ve all had time to research it.
But back on this thread, it doesn’t matter what Labour might have done or not done in the past. It is now Key’s problem, and if the Airforce have not got aircraft operational to do it then the obligation on the Government is to charter commercial aircraft (and pay the insurance risk) to get everyone who wants to leave Thailand out of there.
Personally, I’m thinking about a trip there myself (if there is an airport open that I can get in through).
As a Green, I like to keep my air miles to a minimum, but it is tempting to be on the spot to give moral, and if possible practical, support to those who uphold the principles of democracy, social justice, and and environmental responsibility.
How are the protestors upholding the principles of democracy?
“Remind me why New Zealand voted in these halfwits?”
The audacity of hope?
Why is the government expected to fetch Kiwis stranded in Thailand? Hello? Now this genuinely is nanny state gone mad. So anytime I am overseas and have a travel disruption I don’t have to do anything except sit on my arse and wait for an Air Force plane to arrive and take me home? Where was the plane for my wife and kids when they were stranded at Heathrow last year? This is not a Bali bombings situation when an evacuation response is warranted for medical reasons, and where the Aussie air force did a superb job for injured aussies, kiwis and brits plus very badly injured other nationalities. Those of us uninjured had to sit around for a couple of days until flight backlogs cleared – didn’t get offered a free ride to Darwin. Emergency evacuation is not just so you can make it back in time for work next week. This is what travel insurance is for. Disruption to travel. Pay for alternative transport, catch a bus to Kohsamui , Chiang Mai or Phuket. Get on the train to KL. Or stay on for another two weeks and enjoy the poolside some more.
I really can’t believe the whining on this subject. The stupid woman on the news last night whining about “i work a full time job and now I am spending 8 hrs on the phone and internet trying to help my daughter stuck in Thailand.” Get a grip on yourself.
This debate is incredible – nowhere in the media or on the blogs is anyone actually discussing why the government has a duty to evacuate in this situation. Are we now so pathetic as a nation that any time something inconvenient occurs we look for a government response and are too lazy/stupid/unmotivated to look after ourselves?
On Holmes this morning a travel agent on holiday in Thailand was interviewed. He was amazed that sending a plane is even being debated in NZ. His story? “We booked a flight from Phuket (or KohSamui – dnt recall) to HK and have been on buses/train for 20 hours getting there. No problem, in fact it has been an interesting experience all paid for by travel insurance.” Common sense at last.
Debate on this blog would have much more credibility if it wasn’t just find an angle to attack Key on everything, and ignore other issues (like Acc). And yet, I’d actually agree if you were attacking Key here for a completely inappropriate, nannyish, feel good response to a travel disruption.